Monsters in the shadows
by RushAlias
Summary: Eli Pepperjack is on to the creatures that lurk in the night and he is so close to exposing them. The only thing stopping him, is his reputation and the monsters and people who their secrets to remain hidden. The more he learns the more enemies he might make. What's worse is that it becomes hard to trust when there are monsters hiding in plain sight.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay so first of this is a rewrite of my original story Lycanwing. I reread it and realized that I didn't like where that story was heading. So rather than just go and edit over each chapter i decided to rewrite the whole story. Now i know that I didn't really reach far with my original story, but i have learnt a lot more, the lore of trollhunters as also expanded with 3 below and i think i finally figured out where i want to go with this story.**

 **That being said, i am going to need some help from you, viewers. I need you to review and tell me what parts of each chapter you like and dislike. Not only will it help me improve the story and my writing, but reviews also help motivate me to write more. I promise that this time i will try to see this through to wherever it finishes and i hope i can tell you all a wonderful a story as well. Either way all of this aside enjoy the chapter.**

 **Trollhunters does not belong to me it belongs to** **Guillermo del Toro.**

* * *

It was dawn on the first day of school in Arcadia. Most of the town's residents were only now stirring from sleep. While some were already up and about, two figures in particular were very wide awake, Bular, the son of Gunmar and Kanjigar, Merlin's current trollhunter. The two were up as usual trying their best to avoid the morning sun or else they would be in a sticky situation.

Kanjigar dodged another one of Bular's swings as they made their way under the bridge by the storm drain. The two mortal enemies had been going after each other's throats since after midnight and they showed no signs of stopping their attempts at each other's throats. Bular being the larger of the two used his size and power to his advantage. With each strike he left his mark, his twin swords digging into whatever surface they landed on. One strike was all the larger troll needed to end any ordinary being.

That being said Kanjigar was no ordinary being. Though smaller than his foe, the trollhunter was indeed more agile, easily avoiding most of Bular's attacks while he parrying the one's he couldn't. Kanjigar's own sword, the sword of daylight, had held its own against Bular, the blue magic Merlin had infused within it pulsed with the same determination as the rest of Kanjigar's armour. Bular had dug his grave when he challenged the trollhunter and now Kanjigar was going to bury him in it.

Swords clashed as sparks flew between the two. Both had reason to be fighting, something more than themselves. Bular fought for the freedom of his father and the desire for Gumm-Gumms to rule the surface once more while Kanjigar fought for his son and the peace that was kept between the troll world and the human world.

Bular made a horizontal clash with his sword forcing Kanjigar back. The trollhunter lunged at his Gumm-gumm disarming one of his blades, leaving the two on even terms. Bular took note as the blade wedged itself into part of the bridged structure. He may be down a weapon but he was still a force to be reckoned with. He engaged Kanjigar once more the two pushing back and forth. One moment Kanjigar would gain an advantage on Bular only for the larger troll to regain his footing and press Kanjigar into a corner. If one punched the other, they would merely stand up and resume the fight like nothing had happen. One could even say the fight would have ended when one of them finally gave into fatigue.

Yet the morning sun had other plans. While the two troll were too busy fighting, the sun's rays had begun to shine under the bridge, and the two trolls were now dangerously close to it and then ...it happened. Kanjigar fell back after he headbutted Bular and without noticing, the trollhunter's foot had been turned to stone after touching the sunlight. Most trolls would feel the searing pain with minutes, but the adrenaline from the fight was too much for Kanjigar to notice, until it was too late. The trollhunter tried to stand to resume the fight but he nearly stumbled due to the petrified foot, something that did not go unnoticed by Bular.

Grinning at his foe's misfortune the Gumm-gumm only continued his attacks. He began to strike Kanjigar, blow after blow with his swords. The trollhunter began to slowly back away as each blow pushed him back slightly and with his leg injured, he couldn't push back. Eventually Kanjigar was thrown back on the floor, with Bular towering over him. The trollhunter tried to raise his sword, but Bular stomped on his hand and the sword of Daylight.

"Not to day, Trollhunter." Bular said as he raised his sword to deliver the final blow. Kanjigar looked at all his available options before realizing he had no other choice, time for rule number 3. Before Bular could even swing his sword down, an immense pain shot through his body as Kanjigar struck a low blow. The Gumm-gumm staggered back giving the trollhunter enough time to recover and crawl away. Looking over his arm, it was clear that it was now broken.

'Great, first a leg, now an arm." Kanjigar thought. He needed to finish the fight Bular before he lost any more limbs. He focused and calmed Daylight into his other arm. He pulled it back and tossed it at Bular who was still in shock by Kanjigars first counter strike and didn't notice the flying sword till...it pierced him in his eyes. Bular howled in pain as he felt the light of Daylight burn into his stony skin. He struggled and struggled to move the sword and Bular was successful, if only removing his right eye, eye socket and part of his forehead. The pain of missing parts of his face was surprising more bearable than the light of Daylight. Looking back at Kanjigar, Bular could see the trollhunter only laugh at him.

"That makes you look just like your father." Kanjigar commented, summoning Daylight back in hand as he helped himself to his feet. Bular now overwhelmed with rage, lunged at Kanjigar and slammed him into a beam. The Gumm-gumm repeated this action twice more, each time his horns piercing a different part of Kanjigar's armour. When he felt Kanjigar's body begin to grow, Bular grabbed him by the head and slowly force him into sunlight that was entering beneath the bridge. The trollhunter screamed in pain but it was too late. His rival pulled him back and forced him back against the wall. Bular looked at the beat form of Kanjigar laying against the beam, a sadistic satisfied smile formed on the Gumm-gumm 's face. He raises his sword and aimed it right for the amulet that was fixed into the trollhunter's armour. He forced the sword ever so roughly, enjoying the pain grunts Kanjigar made as Bular practically wedged the sword into the hunter's heart to pry off the amulet.

The amulet force slowly beginning to separate and Bular could only watch in excitement as the thing he sort after for so long was about to drop right into his hands. That was until a bright light flashed from the amulet, throwing Bular back.

Kanjigar felt his armour disappear as the amulet fell right in front of him. He was beaten, battered, bruised, and broken in several places. The trollhunter knew death was practically screaming his name at the moment, but he refuse to listen, he only had one thing left to do before he could answer it. Using what little strength he had left Kanjihar got to his feet or well foot once more, using the beam as support, the amulet held in his broken arm. Once he was stable he used his good arm to hold the amulet and threw it with whatever remaining power he had left. He watched as it travelled away from him. It had disappeared into morning sky, just as Kanjigar heard Bular get back on his feet.

"It's over, " Kanjigar said, leaning against the beam. "The amulet will find a new champion, one who will sure defeat Gunmar. You have failed Bular." Kanjigar told his nemesis.

"I may have failed, but I can still have the satisfaction of ending your pathetic life." Bumar told him as lunged for the trollhunter with his swords.

"You won't even have that." Kanjigar replied smugly as allowed himself to fall of the bridge. His body immediately turned to stone as the sunlight hit it before smashing against the floor of the storm drain.

Bular roared in frustration as he slammed his hand against the wall. Not only did he fail to get the amulet of daylight but he was also robbed the glory of killing Kanjigar.

"No matter, I'll just get it from the corpse of the next trollhunter." Bular said as he left from the battle field, unaware of the small human boy who had just taken his photo.

Eli felt proud of himself, after all these years of being called crazy and over imaginative, he finally had proof of the monsters who lurked in the night. He was so delighted in his find that the reality of there being monsters that could easily disembowel him, seemed to completely fly over his head.

He wasted no time in skating back home on his roller blades. When he reached home, he quickly climbed up the tree in front of his bedroom and entered through the window. He put the photo to print from the camera and proceeded to organize for the school day. When he finished packed his supplies, he pulled down a chat he had made detailing all of the mysteries of Arcadia. He took the printed photo and placed it within a section categorized as monsters/creepers. He looked over at his work, he felt proud but at the same time a bit disappointed. He had managed to collect all this evidence yet no one believed him.

"Well almost no one." He said to himself. He looked at a photo that was hanging on the wall next to the chart. It showed him and his father from a few years ago, the man who had introduced him into this hidden world. "I'll make you proud dad." He said to himself. Looking at the clock next to it, he noticed the time.

"Better get going." He said to himself as he took one of the photos from the printer.

"What were you thinking?" Aliyah screamed into Eli's ears. The boy had not too long arrived in school and was already trying to tell his fellow students about the monsters he saw. Most brushed him off and ignored him, but his friend Aliyah a girl who looked around his age was far from pleased.

"I'm sorry." Eli muttered before receiving a punch to the shoulder.

"Sorry doesn't excuse stupidity. Do you have any idea what could have happened if one of those monsters noticed you?" Aliyah continued to rave. Out of all the people in the school, Aliyah Storm was the only one who had actually taken his words as true; unfortunately for Eli while she did believe in the creepers that lurk in the night, she was more interested in avoiding them rather than exposing them. Eli had questioned her fear, but when she told him of the various tales and legends she had heard while travelling around the country, he could see why her fear was present.

"Well, yeah, but these monsters weren't like any of the others you told me about. They were living stone." Eli defended.

"Eli." Aliyah said in soft voice. "I don't care if its living stone or living dirt, case in point there are a lot of creatures of there that see you has light snack. So next time, could you please call me before you decide to start looking for trouble. You need to have someone watching your back." She told him.

"Okay Aliyah." He said.

"So the one who had died, you said he tossed into the distance before he turned to stone?" She asked recalling the story.

"Um yeah. I couldn't get a close look at it but it was glowing blue when he threw it." Eli answered, "Think we should go after it?" He asked.

"And risk running into the big bad that killed the blue one, not a chance." She answered. "But I wouldn't mind checking out that monster's corpse. If he was killed then I see no reason for the other to stick around. Plus it might help us learn a little about these monsters." She told him.

"Just like fossils." He realized.

"Pretty much," She responded as they walked through the school. "I meet you in front when schools over then we can go monster hunting." She told him as she went towards her class.

"Alright, I'll see you there." Eli told her as he walked to his own class.

Meanwhile one of the teachers, a history teacher in particular and a student had been listening in on the two. The teacher, Walt Strickler had been very displeased to hear Mr. Eli Pepperjack rambling on about the monsters under the bridge.

"That boy shouldn't be sticking his nose, where it doesn't belong." He told the student.

"And what would you like me to do about it." The student asked.

"You can deal with it as how you see fit." Strickler told them, earning a smile from the student, before he continued. "Just see to it that the boy remains alive and relatively unharmed." Strickler warned them.

"Okay, but accidents do happen." The student smirked.

"But they are not tolerated." Strickler growled earning an eye roll from the student.

"Fine whatever, you say Uncle." The student responded before heading to their own class.

* * *

 **And that was the first chapter of the rewrite, as you can see i change a lot of parts from the previous version, which is why simply editting the chapters of the original would not have worked. Thanks for reading and remember to fav, follow, and review.**

 **I really want to hear what you all thought about this chapter as well as the story's previous version, Lycanwing. Tell me my faults (in a constructive way) so that i may be better.  
**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own trollhunters, 3 below or wizards. I do own Aliyah Storms, Nathan Walker and a few other ocs in this story.**

* * *

Aliyah stared at the clock as the seconds ticked by, her thoughts were scattered as usual between class and her personal life. She was playing over the descriptions of the monsters Eli had described and as much as she disliked the idea. She couldn't think of any known monsters that fit the description living in Arcadia. She had studied the gargoyles of France, terracotta army of China and Sentry Dragons of the Norse mythology, but none quite fit the description and were also located closer to Europe and Asia rather than the Americas. The only thing left to base them on was the weeping statues, but even that was a stretch as those were vague. She tried her best to sketch the monsters Eli described in her notebook and while she had done quite a few, unless she had seen them in real life or at least a photo, she was sure these drawings would be far from real.

Aliyah was so caught up in her sketching that she didn't notice that the teacher of her metalwork class, Mr. Robbeg Chelb was trying to get her attention. It wasn't long before the teacher came in front her desk and slammed his fist down on the metal table. Ordinarily when a teacher did that, it would just cause a loud bang, which would startle the student and those surrounding them. Chelb was not ordinary by the slightest. He was in his 50's but possessed the stamina and strength of someone much younger than himself. His thick long mustache would have made the butt of many jokes had he also not had two metal prosthetic limbs, both of which he acquired from accidents in his craft. The two prosthetic were designed by Chelb himself and being the thriller seeker that he was, were made to look terrifying in addition to functional. Probably the most impressive and simultaneously nerving thing about him was how his metal arm was capable of moving just as effective as normal one with the addition ability to bend and contort into various inhuman ways as well as supply excess force.

It was the very force from his arm that landed on Aliyah's desk that had caused it to deform in the way it did. Aliyah looked up from her work at the teacher feeling a slight bit of panic sinking in as she noticed his stare.

"Can you repeat the question?" She asked nervously.

"What do you think is the purpose of the blood groove medieval swords?" He asked her.

"Oh, that. Well a blood groove was the name given to the groove located on the centre of blade from the tip of the blade to the hilt." Aliyah answered.

"Okay, you have the location figured out; anyone else wants to help Ms. Storms answer the question?" The teacher asked the class. Most remained silent, except for one student who had nervously lifted his hand up.

"Yes Mr. Walker." The teacher called.

"The blood groove was used by knights as a means helping the blood flow out of a wielders opponent and it was said that when the groove was filled with blood the sword could be imbued with more power." Nathan Walker answered.

Chelb, as well as the rest of the class, looked at Nathan in a peculiar way.

"What?" Nathan asked.

"Dude, that is seriously disturbing." One student answered, earning some murmuring from the rest of the class. Chelb abruptly silence them by smacking his fist into Aliyah's desk again deforming it even more.

"Alright, alright, that's enough out of you all." Chelb told the class, before turning back to Nathan. "That is reasonable answer." Chelb explained earning some shocked expression from some students.

"Wait seriously?" A girl asked.

"Technically the answer is no; but it's also yes." The teacher responded. "You see it was a common legend made by people and historians, that the blood groove was supposed to be able to do that, but no evidence exists otherwise unless you count legendary swords like Excalibur and Durandal but those swords neither had blood grooves nor did they use such dark powers. What the blood grooves were really used for was reducing the weight of the sword." He explained.

"Swords in general were weapons, and weapons need to be two things. Easy to use and should also be able to damage if not destroy your enemies. Swords without blood grooves, were heavy, which while that helped wielders inflict more damage; it came at the cost of maneuverability. Plain and simple, they were too heavy to be used by weaker warriors, or even just exhausted warriors, and were also easy to dodge because of this. The blood groove basically removes the excess metal in the centre of the blade that isn't technically used in the fight to make the weapon lighter, while still keeping it as strong a sturdy as ever." Chelb explained.

"However, this was only possible through the combinations of blade tempering, heat treatment and distal tapers. This is why you will now be working in groups of two to research and design a proper sword and later this semester, if I can get the school board to agree, we can forge them." Mr. Robbeg said earning some cheers from the students. Another thing about Robbeg Chelb was that he had a tendency to make some of the best and most interesting class projects. One time he had the class design a catapult for the school football team to use since the school was too cheap to buy a football launcher. It worked fine till someone loaded a watermelon, but a sword couldn't be that dangerous, especially with teenagers.

"Now to pick the groups." Chelb said as the students all collectively groaned at this.

"Here we go again." Aliyah thought remembering her last partner.

* * *

Eli had finally finished his history class with Mr. Strickler and was now on his way to his locker to get some books for his later classes. While walking he was so busy searching through the web on his phone that he failed to notice another student walking into him.

"Ouch." He said as his books fell to the floor.

"I am so sorry." The person he bumped into, a girl his own age, responded.

"It's okay. It was my fault really" He told her, before realizing he didn't recognize her.

"Are you new here?" He asked nervously.

"Actually yes I am. I recently moved to this town with my family." She answered, as she began to gather her things, Eli mirrored her actions with his own books. As he was picking up the books he notice she had a book titled 'European Legends.'

"I see you're a fan of the supernatural." He stated.

"Well I wouldn't say I am much of fan, maybe a little curious." She answered, "Besides I don't think this school, likes fans of the supernatural so much. I heard of this weird kid who claimed he saw monsters by the bridge, and some students had some less than favorable comments about him." She said.

"Um yeah that was me." Eli deadpanned, and he immediately saw the color drain from her face. She immediately started apologizing but Eli quickly assured her it was alright.

"So, umm I'm Sabrina." The girl responded, offering her hand.

"Eli Pepperjack." Eli said as he shook it.

"Well Eli it was nice to meet you, but I need to get going, I have to head to the office to explain why I came so late today." She said as she hurriedly left.

"Oh okay." Eli told her as she began to walk away, before stopping. "Say are you by chance in Mr. Strickler's class?" She asked.

"Yeah…why do you ask?" Eli answered.

"That was supposed to be my first class. So I was wondering if you were in it. Maybe I could get the notes I missed from you." She replied.

"Oh, okay."

"Why don't I come over by you later and I can copy them down." Sabrina suggested, as she started to scribble down something on a piece of paper before handing it to Eli. "Here's my number, so you can text me your address. Thanks so much Eli." Sabrina told him before leaving abruptly. Eli watched as she left before feeling a tap on his shoulder. He jumped in reflex in case it was Steve or someone else, only to find Aliyah laughing at him.

"What?" He asked his friend.

"Oh nothing." She responded. "So are we still going after that corpse, or would I be intruding on your date?" Aliyah asked playfully.

"Really, I just met her and that's your response?" Eli asked.

"Considering your reputation, then yes." She responded earning a pout from Eli, this only made her smile more. Eli decided it was probably time to change the conversation.

"So how was Metalwork?"

"It was alright. I did these during class." Aliyah said as she showed him the drawings. Eli scanned them given his comments where it was needed. Some of the drawings were well down but the proportions were a little way off.

"Well if you had brought the picture, I could have probably done all that." She defended.

"We can always check it later. I have the photo already on the wall, just need to start making links" He answered.

"True." Aliyah replied. "Well that's all I wanted to show you, now I have to get to class." She said.

"What do you have?" Eli asked.

"Maths."

"That is not so bad." Eli said, laughing a little. He was very much aware of Aliyah despised the subject and he was often the one who helped tutor her.

"Maths stands for Madness Attacking The Head Slowly." Aliyah deadpanned, making air quotes.

"Sure it does." Eli smirked. "And Art stands for Alien Race Transfer." He responded smugly, before receiving a punch in the shoulder.

* * *

The rest of the day was uneventful; Eli got shoved into a locker by Steve, but thankfully Jim was there to help him out and Aliyah survived Maths. Aliyah had left class and was proceeding to leave when she was stopped in the hall by Nathan.

"Hey, so about the project?" Nathan asked.

"It's due a couple days from now and I have plans with a friend of mine. So move." Aliyah said as she ignored him and continued to walk only to hear him walking right behind her.

"Right it's due soon, so we should probably start working on it right now." Nathan said confidently.

"Then you can go and start doing research on it and I'll help you with it tomorrow." Aliyah responded, now running a little. She had just rounded the corner when she nearly collided with a teacher. Luckily she was able to avoid hitting them completely though there startled response did earn cause her to freeze.

"Ms. Storms." The teacher called, Aliyah briefly turned around to meet them.

"Mr. Strickler, how are you doing? Is that a new suit? It looks nice." She told him.

"No it is not." Strickler said. "But could you please enlighten me why you were in such a hurry."

"Oh that well you see. I was supposed to meet Eli to do some… homework but I got distracted and lost track of time." Aliyah lied.

"Would this homework be another one of your monster hunting trips?" Strickler asked.

"Maybe." Aliyah responded.

"Young lady you are aware that it is dangerous for a young girl like yourself to be out so late, and while I mean no offense to Eli, he isn't exactly the bodyguard type." Strickler replied calmly.

"Relax. Mr. Strickler we aren't going anywhere dangerous. Just by the storm drain and we'll be careful." Aliyah responded.

"I can't change your mind. Can I?" Strickler said.

"Not even the slightest." Aliyah responded as she left.

Strickler watched her as she left. "Nothing better than loyalty between friends, wouldn't you agree ?" Strickler said as Nathan approached him.

"Yeah, it's a real rare sight." Nathan responded before seeing Strickler glare at him. "I'll be on my way." He told the teacher before leaving.

"Oh and ," Strickler called, "It is considered rude to eavesdrop on other people's conversations." The teacher told him.

"Noted."

* * *

Aliyah arrived outside, Eli who had previously been on his phone had noticed her arrival, however just as she arrived, he was quick to hang up.

"I'm guessing that wasn't your mother." Aliyah asked.

"No, it was Sabrina. I told her I couldn't make it today so we could meet tomorrow." Eli answered, before immediately regretting it when he saw a playful smile appear on Aliyah's face. He clicked his shoes activating the skates within them, as did Aliyah and the two left the school compound, skating to the storm drain, all the while Eli had to listen to Aliyah teasing him about Sabrina.

However several pairs of eyes were watching them as many small figures moved in the shadows. The leader, a small humanoid creature with green skin, turned to his allies. "Waka chaka." It said before the other shadows continued after the duo.

* * *

 **Well when it came down to it, i realized the school scenes may be a frequent thing so detailing them might be boring. So i'll areas and events that happen outside school might be more extravagant. Like i said before, I want to do this right and it would be really helpful for me to know what you all like and dislike with my writing. I won't change my style completely to suit everyone's taste but it will help guide me. Because i know it easy for a writer to make mistakes and not notice them without a second opinion.**

 **Also, how is the pacing going so far?**

 **That's all for now, so like always, Fav, Follow and review.(Constructive reviews please.)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Here it is, sorry it took so long, i was hoping to do it within a week but it took two. Hopefully the next one doesn't take any longer than that.**

 **As always the tales or arcadia trilogy does not belong to me. But Aliyah, Sabrina and various OCs do.**

 **Now please enjoy the story and comment what you think.**

* * *

Aliyah tilt her head as she looked at the corpse of the previous monster, or what she assumed was a corpse, it really just seemed to be a pile of rubble.

"Don't take this the wrong way but this looks like a pile of rocks. I believe when you said it was a monster, but I don't think we can use this as evidence without looking..."

"Crazy." Eli finished.

"I was gonna say high on drugs but that works." Aliyah admitted as she walked around the site. Apart from the large pile of rubble that was supposedly the blue troll, there wasn't a thing else. While Eli poked around the rubble, Aliyah decided to investigate around the area, snapping pictures as she walked. The underside of the bridge in particular had peak her interest. She walked up the slanted walls and climbed up the beams to explore the underside better.

While Aliyah was busy with the bridge Eli checked each of the stones in the rubble. He had found that it was possible to actually put some of the pieces back together to make shape, the monster. He had already made progress in reconstructing what he hoped was a leg, but you could never tell. As he was picking through the stones a soft blue glow began to emit underneath the stones.

"Huh?" was all he could say as the stones began to glow brighter. He began uncovering the top stones from the glow and to his surprise the light was actually emitting from a stone in the center of the rubble. Eli searched through his bag and found a jar he had carried just for this type of situation. Using one of his books, Eli scooped the stone into the jar before covering it.

"Aliyah." Eli called looking for his partner.

"Yeah." She responded looking at him while hung upside down on one of the bridges beams. Eli lifted up the jar and showed her it.

"A glowing rock? I found one as well." Aliyah responded, holding up a piece of stone that had emitted a red glow from one point of it. Unlike Eli, Aliyah wasn't too concerned with being cautious with these kinds of stuff. She had climbed back up the beam and proceeded to skate down the side of the drain to meet Eli showing him her rock. The glowing stone Aliyah had found was actually embed into a larger, darker piece of rock. Upon close inspection the glowing rock actually looked more like an eye while the stone it was embedded in looked like part of a face.

"Do you think they're supposed to go together?" Aliyah asked Eli. The question seemed to catch the boy off guard. Eli held his jar with the blue rock near to Aliyah's red one. Both rocks began to shine brighter, the closer they came but the duo felt themselves being pushed apart by an unseen force between the two stones.

"Did you feel that?" Eli asked.

"That depends, would 'that's be an unseen force pushing us apart when we brought the two stones together." Aliyah stated. Eli merely nodded at the statement and Aliyah confirmed it.

It was dusk when the duo left the storm drain. The two of them had decided that it may best to keep the stones apart, so while Eli analysed his blue one, Aliyah would work on removing the red stone from the black rock.

"Well we may not have found any credible evidence, but what we did find something nonetheless." Eli said.

"Speak for yourself; I also took some photos underneath the bridge. Whatever damaged it was clearly not human so we could add that to our findings." Aliyah added as she showed Eli the photos on her phone.

* * *

As the duo walked home, they were startled when a street light shattered in front them. They looked at it curiously before hearing another break behind them. Soon more lights started breaking and the darkness started to creep towards them. From the shadows, Eli could see several glowing eyes staring him down as the darkness approached them

"What's going on?" Eli asked Aliyah. He heard the distinct click as Aliyah activated her skates. Eli followed suit and clicked his own. Something just told him things were going to get hectic.

"I don't know, but I think those eyes are glaring at us." Aliyah whispered as she surveyed the area, noticing a clear space between two houses. She held Eli's arm tightly, the boy winced as he felt Aliyah's nails dig into his flesh but that discomfort was quickly dismissed as the shadows approached. Eli could hear his hearts racing as the shadows seem to speak a foreign language he had never heard off.

When the last light shattered above them, Aliyah nearly yanked Eli's arm of as she pulled him to the opening. After getting his bearings, Eli recovered and skated alongside Aliyah, trying his best to out speed whatever was behind them. They heard a collection of growls, snarls and hisses behind them after they started skating. As much as Eli wanted to see what it was, he wasn't going to take that big of a risk. The duo skated behind several houses while the creepers chased after them; eventually making their way back to the streets. Once on the road Aliyah did an Irish whip and tossed Eli forward ahead of her. While Eli was thrust forward Aliyah did her best to quicken her own pace behind him, constantly glancing over her shoulder to see where the creepers were. Despite their animalistic nature the creepers were smarter than they anticipated always moving away from the lights to avoid being seen. Only there glowing yellow eyes gave them away.

"Waka chakra!" The creepers said.

"Eli, the trash cans." Aliyah shouted. The boy looked ahead and saw some garbage cans front of a house. It may not have been the most courteous thing to do, but he had no choice, Eli skated beside them and knocked them over in front of the creepers. Aliyah navigated pass the trash snagging a lid that had fallen from one of them. She took a leap of faith and swung it around, tossing it like a Frisbee to the creepers behind her. It didn't seem to have any affect however as the creepers continued to follow them.

Eli rushed through the streets trying his best not to become road kill. A car had screeched to a halt, missing him by a few inches, but the boy didn't stop although the driver was more than happy to and tried to yell at him. He watched as Aliyah jumped over the car roof and as the shadows behind her consumed the driver and his car.

"What the- Ahhhhh." The driver said as the shadows consumed him. Both teens grimaced at the sound, Eli more so than Aliyah. It was just another day of creeper hunting he had told himself. Chances are that driver would be reported on the papers tomorrow as mugged, murdered or attacked by a wild animal, most likely a coyote. The creepers did seem to slow down their assault as they attack the man.

"Well Eli I hope you're happy, we found some creepers." Aliyah told him as they skated through the streets. Both skaters had headed into the town, if they were lucky the creepers would expose themselves or Eli and Aliyah could find help. The duo had quickened there pace as they saw themselves approaching a nearby park with a lot people present. "Quick over there." Aliyah said as she pulled Eli over to the park. When they arrived in the park, Aliyah and Eli looked behind them to see the creepers, glowing eyes. The creepers seem to stop following them, staying hidden within the shadows away from the park. Eli and Aliyah looked to see the yellow eyes glare at them before they faded into the darkness.

"Looks like they don't like crowded spaces, huh." Eli said.

"Safety in numbers I guess" Aliyah added as she scanned the shadows. Those creepers may have stopped following them, but she could still smell their scent nearby. If anything the duo would need to get a ride or something if they wanted to reach home and that was also uncertain.

Eli was looking around the park. He noticed the other occupants were pretty much busy with whatever they were doing completely unaware of the monster nearby. There were some elderly folk playing chess in a nearby gazebo, people gathering around a nearby Mexican food truck, and then there were some teens here and there. Looking over the benches Eli saw a familiar looking face. Thankfully it wasn't Steve or any of the bullies from school. His trail of thought was immediately disrupted by a loud growling.

"What was that?" Eli jumped. Aliyah looked at him sheepishly before patting her belly.

"My stomach." She responded. "I had a light lunch and running for our lives works up an appetite" She defended. You'd think with the monsters that were chasing them would cause them to be on edge, but truth be told it wasn't the first time Eli or Aliyah had run into a situation like this. It was becoming a regular occurrence, as of late. Still despite the frequent encounters with the supernatural, they had yet to actually acquire any solid evidence. It was always either loss, misplaced or destroyed.

"Okay, well while you get something to eat, I'm going to go.."

"Play chess with the geezers." Aliyah finished as she looked around the park. Her face made a small smile when she saw a certain girl.

"Sure let's go with that."

"We'll have fun and tell Sabrina I said hi." Aliyah teased as she walked to the food truck. She had already figured out what Eli was going to do.

"Wait what?" Eli asked.

* * *

"Here you go Domzalski." Stuart said as he handed the chubby boy his tacos. Toby was one of his regular customers and Stuart had already memorized the boy's favourite orders, although it always surprised him how the boy could stomach some of his food as frequently and as spicy as he made it. Most other people would howl in pain as the pepper burnt there tongue and then be confined to the toilet for several hours. Humans were weird he would tell himself, but that didn't mean they were bad. The people of Arcadia were some of the best he ever met, despite some of his previous encounters with other ones. Looking as Domzalski left he noticed another odd one approaching, Aliyah Storm.

This girl despite having a slim figure was capable of wolfing down more food than some of the chubby members of society. She was also known for her involvement with Eli Pepperjack. Stuart had no actual problems with Eli himself, but he didn't exactly feel comfortable with boy's constant prodding for the supernatural, sure it was all to prove he wasn't crazy, but if the boy was misled, then things could get ugly. Thankfully Eli showed no interest in Aliens, and neither did Aliyah. Though she still made Stuart feel on edge, whenever she was around. It was as if she could tell something was different with him and truth be told he often felt something was off about her.

"Hey Stuart. I'll take the usual." Aliyah said as she placed the money on the counter. He began preparing her order, five tacos with extra cheese, no veggies, extra meat, jalapeno peppers and soaked in his special hot sauce.

The food truck cook, wasted no time in preparing her food alongside some of his other customers. While he was preparing the food, he noticed Aliyah looking around the park, more particularly at the shadowy areas.

"You okay Aliyah?" Stuart asked as she took the food. She had already taken out a taco and had started to eat.

"I'm fine."

MUNCH

"It's just been a wild."

MUNCH

"night."

MUNCH

"We got chased by some creepers." MUNCH

"and now I think we're surrounded by them."

MUNCH

Aliyah told him in between bites. Stuart watched in awe as she devoured the entire tacos one after the other. She took out some more money and rested it on the counter.

"5 more please." She told Stuart politely. Stuart took the money and began to make another batch for her.

"So what exactly did these creepers look like?" Stuart asked. Arcadia was nesting ground for the supernatural. If it wasn't for various monster hunters or the government interfering, Stuart was positive the town would have found out about aliens or troll decades ago.

"I didn't see them properly." Aliyah said bitterly as she took the tacos.

MUNCH

"All I saw was green skin"

MUNCH

"Yellow eyes"

MUNCH

"One had a moustache"

MUNCH

"Skinny human like body"

She said as she devoured the tacos again. Stuart looked at her as she ate the last taco. Processing the info she gave him.

"Where they chanting?" Stuart asked.

Aliyah stopped mid bite, casting Stuart a suspicious look. She remembered the creepers where mumbling something.

"Yeah." She responded. "Toco loco, taco choka..." she repeated.

"Waka chaka." Stuart said.

"That's it." Aliyah exclaimed looking at Stuart. "Do you know what does things were?" She asked him.

Stuart rubbed the back of his neck. He confessed had seen some of those creepers before, but he didn't know much about them other than the fact they were vengeful creatures if one of their own was killed. He told Aliyah he had seen some when he went hiking. He had accidently squashed one and all hell broke loose. He had run all the way from the forest into town like a mad man.

"How did you escape them?" Aliyah asked curiously.

"I didn't." Stuart said, "There was a hunter nearby, he saved me from the creepers." Stuart told her.

"A regular hunter saved you from the creepers?" Aliyah asked as she ordered another batch of tacos.

"Well this guy was not your average hunter." Stuart told her as he prepared the food. "He was more of a monster hunter." Stuart told her.

"Do you know where I can find him?" Aliyah inquired as she waited.

"Sorry I didn't stick around the ask questions."

"Well thanks anyway. You've been a big help Stuart." Aliyah told him as she paid for the last of her food, leaving a tip with the cash. Stuart looked at the tip and then Aliyah. If she and Eli did encounter what he though they did then maybe it would be better if he dropped them home.

"Hey Aliyah." Stuart called. The girl turned around and he signaled for her to come close. He asked if they needed a ride home, Aliyah was initially shocked by his offer but accepted it none the less. After agreeing to it, she walked over to find Eli and tell him about Stuart's offer.

* * *

Eli walked over to where Sabrina was sitting. The girl was too distracted reading her book that she didn't seem to notice Eli approaching.

"Um. Hey Sabrina." Eli said as he sat down. Sabrina looked up from her book to see Eli standing before her. She was initially shocked by his appearance here. He looked exhausted somewhat as if he had been running for a while. She didn't think of him as the athletic type but looks can be deceiving. She knew that better than anyone.

"Hello Eli." She said flashing him a quick smile. She moved her bag from the bench and motioned for him to sit.

"I didn't expect to see you here." Eli added. He had assumed given her shy nature and unfamiliarity to the town she wouldn't be hanging out anywhere so soon, but then again he didn't really have that much social experience with people, given his track record.

"Well truth be told I wasn't planning on coming. I was running some errands and decided to take a break to catch up on my reading." She showed him the book she had earlier. Eli saw the familiar book and European legends in her hand.

"Oh okay. How is it?" Eli asked, trying to make small talk.

"It's really good actually, lot of stuff on hunting werewolves. Speaking of which, didn't you say something about going on a creature hunt?" She asked him, catching him off guard.

"Creeper actually, not creature. And I did." He answered.

"How was it?" Sabrina asked, setting the book aside and giving him her full attention. Eli looked and tried to think just how exactly was he supposed to explain to her that he heard a guy get devoured by a creeper while it was chasing him.

"Oh it was eventful." Eli told her hoping to avoid revealing as much as possible. "We found some weird rocks, but that was it." He lied. He was a little wary of telling Sabrina the truth. Aliyah already had to contend with dealing with some pressure from other students with being his friend and helping him with his creeper hunts and he didn't want Sabrina to deal with that yet. He was getting a chance to make a good first impression with Sabrina and he wasn't going to let it be defined as the town's nutjob. After all she seemed to be interest in the supernatural stuff just like he and Aliyah was and if all went well then maybe Sabrina could join them. He just needed to make sure he wasn't sounding like a complete loon when he told her about this.

"Just some rocks." She asked suspiciously. She looked at him as he fidgeted in place. That clearly wasn't everything they found but she didn't need to pressure him any more than need. "Sounds boring, I was expecting something little more exciting, like big foot or something." She said.

"Sasquatches can't survive in Arcadia during this time of year, the hot temperatures and thick fur coats don't mix well." Aliyah said as she appeared from behind them. Sabrina nearly jumped by the other girl's sudden appearance, but Eli was use to Aliyah's sneaking.

"Am I interrupting anything?" Aliyah asked the two.

"Not really. Eli was just telling me about your creeper hunt." Sabrina told her, Aliyah looked at Eli for a second casting a suspicious before she continued to talk to Sabrina. "I don't think, we've been formally introduced." Aliyah told Sabrina, "Aliyah Storms." She said as she extended a hand for Sabrina.

"Sabrina Relta" The girl answered as she shook Aliyah's hand. The trio continued to discuss details about the last the creepers and various myths and legends trading some of their info back and forth. If given the opportunity, they may have talked all night, but unfortunately Sabrina had received a call from her family to return home. She didn't seem too pleased with the idea of going but agreed to meet them in school the next day.

As the duo wavered Sabrina good bye and left to meet Stuart, a pair of red glowing eyes were staring at them from the shadows. The eyes belonged to an albino gorilla nesting up on one of the nearby buildings. The creature had been observing the trio while they were in the park. Now satisfied with what it saw it jumped off the other side of the building, but before it even started to fall its body morphed and reshaped itself into snow white eagle with blood red eyes. As the eagle flew into to the night sky, the moon illuminated the rooftops, sparkling in green slime that had now covered them with various paw prints from different animals in the slime.

* * *

 **When i started writing this i was considering what type of monsters and supernatural creatures to use. I was considering some generic ones like werewolves and vampires but as i did research i found some more powerful and interesting creatures. Some that would probably beat the legends like the wolfman, dracula and others in a fair fight. So comment if you think you can guess some of them before their name is actually revealed.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A.N. So I had some difficulties writing this one because i really did not know where to go with it but i feel like this version might be the best. As always I appreciate the constructive criticism because really want to make a good story. As always Trollhunters is not owned by me, but Aliyah storms, Nathan walker, Sabrina Relta and Mr. Chelb are.**

Aliyah looked over the stone, making detailed sketches and taking several photos of the object. She was no scientist, not by a long shot, but she had dealt with enough supernatural occurrences to know when something wasn't right. The stone radiated an angry and evil energy, a lot of hate and aggression pulsed from it and Aliyah herself could feel her own emotions being shifted because of it. She played the events of the over in her mind, the goblins attacking them, that random guy being eaten and Stuart's words about the hunter were all bouncing back and forth in her head.

She had very uncomfortable with hunters, well only those who hunt for sport. It was understandable for the hunters who needed to hunt for food, but the ones who hunted for just the pure joy if it, they disgusted her the most. They were senseless killers, slaughtering animals because they could and without any good reason. A lot of animals had gone extinct because if that, only the smartest of them leaving the world to hide. It was always the same story but she could tell when someone actually believed it or not. Most of the times these sporting hunters claimed they were doing it for the greater good, getting rid if pests or threats to humanity.

There were instances when it were through, overpopulation, invasive species or actual threats to villages and settlements, but many of times they were nothing more than fabricated lies. A lot of creatures were relatively harmless once left alone. Their were exceptions, like Wendigoes or Aswong that would attack and eat adults and children alike. The goblins that attacked last night were also a good example, but could she really trust this hunter and go out of her way to find him.

The better question was what would happen once they find him, ask him to help them, train them? Chances are he would be just as elusive as most of the creepers she and Eli chased. Suppose they did find him, how would they even convince him to do anything with out having any credible evidence. Eli had already garnered a reputation as the town's loon because of the constant babbling of creepers, and while Aliyah did support him and defend him, her word wasn't exactly reliable. Some may even argue that she may lie just to help Eli . It really was annoying how oblivious some people really were.

Looking back at the stone, she decided to give it a rest for tonight, she really wasn't feeling like pulling an all nighter just to study, Eli might but not her. She opened her cupboard in took out a small chest from inside. The chest was metal box, engraved with various Norse words. Above the symbols were various images carved into it; some showed viking teenagers, some were dragons, one was an old lady hitting a one armed, one legged man and so one. Key hole in the centre of the box had a dragon standing upside down facing one direction on the left side of the keyhole and a boy mirroring the dragon on the right.

Looking at the box had filled Aliyah's eyes with tears as many old memories surfaced. However she had quickly pushed them back, something that had become normal when ever saw the box. Laying next to the chest was another black box, this one just round in shape and much flatter. She took the black box and held it in her hand, pressing a hidden button on the back of it. The black box opened to reveal a compass spinning within the box. The compass wasn't all that important at the moment, what she really need was the little hook that had kept the compass shut.

The girl pulled twisted the hook on the compass and it lengthen substantially. Next she turned both the dragon and the boy till they both were facing each other with their heads touching each other. Sliding the extended hook into the keyhole, Aliyah gave it a gentle twist and with a few moments, she heard a pop as the chest opened.

There was nothing really inside the box except and two old books that had been worn with age. She examined the inside carefully and concluded that the rock should be able to fit in it no problem. Placing the stone inside, she locked back the chest and stored it inside the cupboard. She was about to do the same to compass when a nagging voice entered her head, suggesting that maybe leaving the key next to might not be a good idea. She places the compass in her bag, maybe tomorrow she could make something to hook around her neck, in the workshop.

"Oh shoot!" Aliyah though as she remember the project she and Nathan had to work on. No doubt he would be pestering her about it tomorrow and she really did not want to deal with that. Looking through her bag, she found her sketch book. Taking it out she skimmed through several if the pages till she found the right one.

"There you are." She said to no one in particular. The drawing was an old one she had done a long time ago but it was still pretty good. The drawings were of various knights and dragons. She had done then during one of Mr. Strickler's lectures on the dark ages as well as when her literature classes did the Knights of the round table. Looking at the sketch of the knights, it seemed like several of the sword designs should suffice.

After packing back her stuff, Aliyah went and organized for bed, as she laid down ready to sleep something caught her eye. There was quick blur outside the window to her bedroom. She moved quickly to window opening it to get a better look at what out there.

BIG MISTAKE

She felt a small clawed hand scrape her neck. Pulling her head back inside, she reached behind and grabbed whatever was on her neck and threw it back out the window.

"Waka Chaka!" Aliyah heard as she saw many more green arms appear from the window as yellow eyes appeared in the darkness.

The Goblins smiled as they saw there pray. This girl had attacked some of there brethren and had escaped. If it hadn't been for the white shifter, they would have sought revenge right there and then but revenge was theirs in the end. The Giblins could forget about the human boy for now, the girl was there target. No one harms them and lives.

The lead Goblin flashed her a wicked smile but something was off about the girl. She had been in shock before by the scrape on her neck, but now that the shock was over she was fine. They couldn't smell anything in her, no sense of fear. That would be fines, there are humans who don't really feel fear till after they have had their skin torn ov their bodies.

Another thing however had caught them off guard. They didn't see it before but now that moonlight was shining through the window, they could see a smile forming in the girl's face. Perhaps she had lost her mind. Thinking nothing of it, the leader ordered two of the goblins to charge at her, just to gain a reaction. She reacted alright, she swatted the two of them away with ease. The leader looked on as the girls eyes began to shift, her pupils had turned to slits and he could hear an animalistic growl coming from her.

"I was hoping you'd come." She said though her voice was more rough. Thinking they could take her, several more Goblins charged, all were either struck back with her hands or kicked away. One Goblin in particular had managed to get the drop on her, however she did something very unexpected, something no Goblin has ever witnessed. She took the one who had snuck up on her and held it in front her face in clear view if the leader. Then she opened her mouth revealing fangs in place if sine of her teeth before proceeding to bite the Goblin's head clean off. She threw the body in front if the leader, still chewing his comrade a little before swallowing.

"Anyone else." She asked wiping the Goblin slime of her mouth. The Goblins all stared at her in horror. Not even the trollhunter would do that. Several more Goblins tried to attack but she knocked then back with ease. One of them was even pulled apart after she grabbed and yanked both its hands.

The Goblin leader's body began to shake as a sense of dread began to wash over as he watched a sadistic smile begin to form on the girl's face as blood from the scratch in her neck trickled down the side. "Something was not right here. She was not human." The leader thought as called the other Goblins back and lead then away.

Aliyah closed the window as she watched the Goblins run away. She felt like throwing up after the events of what just happened sunk in. Walking back to a mirror she examined her reflection noticing the change in her eyes and her fangs. It was sudden and had come out of no where. The last thing she remembered was getting scratched before she felt her wild side emerge. It hadn't happen in years but she was beginning to wonder if that stone had anything to do with it. She knew she was feeling angrier than usual but to straight up bite of someone's head. She wasn't exactly feeling it comfortable going to school now. Closing the window, she once more headed to bed.

"Maybe I'll just call in sick tomorrow." She thought as she turned if the lights.

Strickler was in his office correcting some papers from one of his classes. He was in a fairly good mood after hearing how Bular killed Kanjigar earlier that day. With the trollhunter gone it would take a while before another would take his place, all the while their plans to restore killahead bridge further move on without hindrance. Strickler was quite pleased as the time for changelings to rule alongside Gunmar would soon be upon them.

"What could possibly go wrong?" One might say and as if to prove Murphy's law right, Strickler's phone rang. Taking it out, he glanced at the number, frowned slightly before answering it. Though he was expecting to hear about Pepperjack's death, he had hoped the news was that the kid was terrified into never going monster hunting again. Fortunately or unfortunately the caller seemed a little furious that their plan to stop Eli had failed. The kid had seemed more determined now to hunt now more than ever and as if to make matters worse the e most of goblin horde that was sent after him was also wiped out by someone or something else. The leader had most of the other Giblins that returned had seemed shaken and weren't even responding properly. That alone was enough to put them on edge.

Strickler was initially surprised by this development, normally the trollhunter would be the first person to suspect of killing the goblins, but with his recent death it shouldn't be possible for a new trollhunter to be on the scene, unless...

"Damn it." Strickler said as he locked the door to his office. Walking back to the book shelf Strickler took out his key and unlocked the hidden switch revealing his hidden room. Strickler walked over to the table in the room and began looking through some papers. All the while the person on the other end of the phone line was left wondering what exactly their uncle was doing. When Strickler finally found the document he was looking for turned his attention back to the call.

"Alright listen up because I can't stress how important this is enough." Strickler said as he looked over the document. "We might be dealing with a monster hunter on our hands." Strickler said sternly.

Not surprisingly, the voice on the other end of the call began to laugh out loud, making jabs at some of those supernatural 'documentaries' that had always been show on TV. Strickler waited a while before the laughter dried down.

"Are you done?" He asked annoyed by the lack of maturity from his kin. He heard a a quick yes followed by a small giggle. Nonetheless the older changeling continued his explanation.

"As I was saying you may have a monster hunter around and unlike television this one might actually he the real deal." He deadpanned.

"Didn't monsters go extinct; dying off because of the occupational hazard of their job?" The caller asked.

"Races and species can go extinct. A job and profession, especially one that involves killing another is something that only becomes irrelevant if their is nothing left to kill. You should no that better than anyone since you 'accidentally' caused the genocide of an entire village.

"Are you still mad about that?" The call asked, with an innocent voice.

"You could have exposed us." Strickler yelled into the phone, before remembering he was still in the school.

"You can't just go around senselessly killing anybody you feel like." He whispered softly.

"Well what was I supposed to do? That village was so boring and what's the point if I kill them now rather later. When Gunmar comes they will be dead either way, so I might as well make the job easier for him." The caller justified.

"And besides that genocide run was written off as plague or something. So I'm totally safe." They defended.

Strickler was rubbing his temples after hearing them talk. Don't get him wrong he loved his family, but sometimes he wondered if he got all the intelligence.

"That's beside the point. The point is that if you get caught while your senselessly slaughtering. You may not live to regret it." Strickler warned.

"Oh come now, Bular does it all the time and I don't see you having any complaints about him." The countered.

"All right you listen hear. I could care less about Bular, but I do care about my sister and I really don't to have to explain why her only child died while under my care. So please make my job easier and don't do anything stupid." Strickler commanded. The caller didn't respond or make any comeback, they simply hung up the phone on the older changeling.

"Hello?" Strickler asked. "Oh pale lady, why do teenagers have to be so difficult." Strickler muttered to himself. The changeling went back to work with thoughts about his conversation. Suffice to say grading papers was a real distraction. However once he finished and was ready to leave something caught his attention.

It was the file for the monster hunters. While it may have been true that a majority of them had died off, there were still rumours that persisted here and there. Most often or not it occurred when changelings mysteriously disappeared off the radar of the Janus order. It was a farfetched idea, considering that some disloyal members had been among the missing. It was assumed their deaths were faked, but that still didn't clear the doubt that persisted. Especially when you realized that some of the remote bases had huge numbers of missing members.

Looking back at the file, Strickler took it and made another call. "Hello Otto. It's me. I need a favour." Strickler said.

 **Notes:** **Creature listings and info dump.**

 **Aswong are vampire like creatures who mostly target children and nursing mothers. They are not vampires but share behaviours like drinking blood and shapeshifting. They are not heartless killers often making friends and having families and exempting their loved one's from their diet. They are not hurt by sunlight appearing quiet human by day.** **As i said they are like mire more powerful versions of vampires and also more twisted. Some of then can make hollow copies of their victims who will get sick and die. So relatives won't know if a person died because an aswong killed them or died naturally.**

 **Wendigo: Cannabilistic creatures.** **There are various versions of this creature, some are people who became cannibals and ate other humans others were simply overtaken by malevolent spirits. Once again can look like humans but are less negotiating in terms if food. To them their is no difference between a human and a meal. Some if them are massive monsters who grow the more they eat and can change their voice to lure prey**


End file.
